Listening In On The Royal Visit

So a few posts back I promised I'd finish the story about listening devices and royal security.  What brought up the topic was a royal visit and a day when a listening device interceded unexpectedly smack into the middle of my day.

May, 2005.  It was the day of Queen Elizabeth's visit.  A rainy day but I slogged the numerous blocks over to Wascana Park where we stood behind a roped barricade outside the legislature waiting for the Queen and Prince Philip to arrive.  I was with a friend of mine, a single friend who I love to occasionally tease about eligible bachelors.  With a front line view we waited and got wetter by the minute.  The only thing going on was the consistent pacing and monitoring of the crowd by the royals' security.  They were dressed in suits and managing to project a presence despite their wet appearance.  And one of them was a very attractive man.  So I teased my friend about the possibility of hooking up with the Queen's security.

Just some teasing between friends that went on while we waited.  Until he looked over, and smiled directly at us.   But it was the second time round, as the comments were still going back and forth, when he came over and teased her about giving him the use of her umbrella.  Now we're thinking, he honed in on us out of this entire crowd of people. How is it possible that he came over without hesitation as if he knew exactly where we were and what we'd been saying?

"Do you suppose he could hear us?" I ask my friend.

Ridiculous we both think but there's a flicker of doubt.

Quiet moments go by as the rain softly pelts down and we get soggier and begin to contemplate the insanity of waiting in this weather.  Under these kind of circumstances, a good-looking man entering our line of vision every few minutes as he works his circuit and two bored women.  The comments are bound to continue - and we complain about men!  So, my friend makes a comment to me as he strides by something about how easy he was to look at.  But it was the smile that immediately followed that comment and was aimed directly at her that was confirmation.  He'd been listening in the whole time, picking our conversation out of the crowd.

We were rather quiet after that.  Slightly embarrassed possibly or maybe just reluctant to have our words recorded and reviewed.  Fortunately the royal couple made their appearance almost immediately after.  And later, well we got lost in the crowd.

It was a quick lesson on sound amplifiers - you never know who might be listening.

Ryshia
www.ryshiakennie.com